Junior tennis players and their families converged on Tennisclub of the Lowcountry at Rose Hill Saturday morning for an open house event with the Ivan Lendl International Junior Tennis Academy. The open house was free to attend and was highlighted by an appearance from Ivan Lendl, the former No. 1 tennis player in the world.

The IJTA is a full-time boarding school with an academic institution that combines tennis training, mental development and academic instruction at the Heritage Academy.

“When the parents come, they can see what we’re doing, and I think it’s very important,” Lendl said. “It’s nice to have them out here so they can see what we’re doing and ask us questions.”

Lendl also spoke about the end goal for those who attend the academy.

“The kids who come will hopefully have a sport for their lifetime,” he said. “They will improve while they’re here; there’s no doubt about that.”

“Hopefully they can go on and get an education with their sport, and if anything happens after that, it is a bonus.”

Peter Orrell, CEO and president of the Junior Sports Corporation, which owns and operates the IJTA, the International Junior Golf Tour and the Heritage Academy, talked about the uniqueness of what JSC does.

“It’s development from A-to-Z,” Orrell said. “They get tennis and golf training, competition training, and they go to school with us and live with us.

“We’re the only academy that owns our own school.”

In addition to being evaluated by Lendl and his supporting coaches, junior players also participated in drills and received feedback and instruction during the three-hour session. The academy’s mental trainer and strength and conditioning trainer were also on hand to provide information to players and their families.

Following the drills and evaluation period, Lendl, the coaching staff and current academy students gathered for a question-and-answer session.

Annika Wagner, a senior attending the academy from Spartanburg, spoke to those in attendance about the academy during the session.

“I came here a year and a half ago because I wanted to get better at tennis,” Wagner said. “I liked that they did not just do tennis here, but also focus on some of the mental aspects of the game as well.

“I used to get frustrated on the court and didn’t know how to handle it, but I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better with the help of the staff.”

After the session, Lendl spoke about his passion for involving kids with sports.

“I just love kids doing sports, I don’t really care what it is,” he said. “I think it’s great for them to be involved, and I love helping out and watching them compete.

“I realized I enjoy watching kids compete in sports from the many summers driving my daughters around the country to different golf tournaments.”

Lendl is an eight-time Grand Slam winner, a Davis Cup champion for Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and appeared in eight straight U.S. Open finals. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001 and helped Andy Murray win his first two Grand Slam victories in the 2012 U.S. Open and 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

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